French
has two more commonly used pronouns than English has; it has both a
singular and plural form of "you", and two forms - masculine and
feminine - corresponding to "they". Otherwise, pronoun usage in French
is fairly straightforward
1. Table of pronouns in French
English
equivalent | Subject form | Direct object | Indirect
object | Possessive | Emphatic |
| I | Je | me, m' | me, m' | le mien...* | moi |
| (thou) | Tu | te, t' | te, t' | le tien...* | toi |
| he | Il | le, l' | lui | le sien,...* | lui |
| she | Elle | la l' | lui | elle |
| it | Ce, c' | Forms of il or elle, according to gender | ça |
| one | on | – | le sien,...* | – |
| we | nous | nous | nous | le nôtre...* | nous |
| you | vous | vous | vous | le vôtre...* | vous |
| they | Ils | les | leur | le leur...* | eux |
| they (feminine) | Elles | les | leur | le leur...* | elles |
* Posessive pronouns agree in number and gender with their referent, i.e. the noun/s to which they refer:
Model: le mien, la mienne, les miens, les miennes There are a few other pronouns:
se - the third person singular reflexive object pronoun. See
reflexive verbs (coming)
en (meaning
of it or
of them), and
y (normally meaning
to or
at somewhere).
and the relative pronouns
qui, que, dont and
lequel, laquelle etc. for which see
relative clauses
2.1. Direct object pronouns: 2.1.1. Position of the direct object pronoun. When the direct object of a clause is a pronoun, it
precedes the verb
(including the auxiliary/ies), but does not precede modal
auxiliaries. (When the direct object is a noun, it follows the
verb).
Examples:
That car is following us.
- Cette voiture nous suit.
I've put them back in the kitchen.
Je les ai remis dans la cuisine. (verb form with auxiliary - avoir)
I wanted to see them before they left.
Je voulais les voir avant leur départ. (verb form with modal auxiliary - vouloir)
2.1.2. The abbreviated forms
m', t', and
l'
are used before words beginning with a vowel, whether they are used as
direct or indirect objects. They are therefore always used - where they
exist - when preceding forms of the auxiliary
avoirExamples:
I saw him yesterday. (direct pronoun object)
- Je l'ai vu hier.
He gave me some chocolates. (indirect pronoun object)
Il m'a donné des chocolats.
2.2. Indirect object pronouns 2.2.1. Position of the indirect object pronoun. When the indirect object of a clause is a pronoun, it
precedes the verb (including the auxiliary/ies), but does not precede modal auxiliaries.
Examples:
You owe me 100 Euros
- Vous me devez cent euros.
He always gives her/him a free ticket to his concerts.
- Il lui donne toujours un billet gratuit pour ses concerts.
I've asked him/her to be there for 5.30 pm.
Je lui ai demandé d'être là pour 17h30. . (verb form with auxiliary - avoir)
I can show them the way.
Je peux leur montrer le chemin. (verb form with modal auxiliary - vouloir)
2.2.2. Complication ! Word order with double object pronouns. Clauses with both a direct and an indirect object pronoun.
Normally the
indirect pronoun object comes
before the direct pronoun object; but when the indirect object is in the third person (i.e. is
lui or
leur) it comes
after the direct object pronoun.
Examples:
He described you to me in great detail
- Il me vous a décrit en grand détail (First person indirect object - me)
But she already told us that !.
- Mais elle nous l'a déjà dit (First person indirect object - nous)
I explained it to you very carefully.
- Je vous l'ai expliqué très soigneusement . (Second person indirect object - vous)
I explained it to them very carefully.
Je le leur ai expliqué très soigneusement . (Third person indirect object - leur)
I can show it to her tomorrow .
Je peux le lui montrer demain. (Third person indirect object - lui)
2.3. Possessive pronouns
2.3.1. Unlike English, where the gender of the third person
singular possessive pronoun is determined by the gender of the
possesser (she > her : he > his), the gender of
the possessive pronoun in French is determined by the
grammatical gender of the noun to which it refers. Thus, the English sentence "
This is his book, and that is hers" would translate litterally into French as : "
Ceci est son livre, et cela est le sien"
- which would be quite ambiguous. Obvously, the litteral translation in
this case does not work, and the translator needs to find an
alternative solution.
Occasionally, the possessive pronoun can be qualified by a numeral.
Examples:
Voici mon vélo, et voila le tien.
Here's my bicycle, and there's yours.
Il a dû vendre sa voiture et la mienne .
He's had to sell his car and mine.
Mon père a dû vendre sa voiture, et mon frère a dû vendre les trois siennes.
My father's had to sell his car, and my brother's had to sell all three of his
J'ai lu votre document Jacques, et le vôtre, Marie .
I've read your document, Jacques, and yours Marie.
Avoiding ambiguity by adding emphatic pronouns:
Il a dû vendre son appartement à lui et son appartement à elle .
He's had to sell his flat and hers.
In this case French needs to find an alternative solution to the possessive pronoun.
2.4. Emphatic pronouns 2.4.1. Emphatic forms of personal pronouns are used in two circumstances:
a) To add emphasis, or to avoid ambiguity (as in the last example above),
b) When the pronoun follows a preposition
Examples:
La France, c'est moi ! Famous saying attributed to king Louis XIV.
Quoi? Lui !!! ???.
What? Him !!! ???.
Eux ils ont dû partir avant la fin .
As for them, they had to leave before the end.
Il te l'a donné à toi, pas à eux ! Indirect object pronouns doubled or replaced by emphatic forms.
He gave it to you, not to them !.
Compare with the simple non-emphatic sentence:
Il te l'a donné. He gave it to you.
J'étais assis entre elle et toi .
I was sitting between her and you.
Nous allons partir avec eux, pas avec lui!
We're going to go with them, not with him!
Venez avec moi s'il vous plaît .
Come with me please .
2.5. Choosing between il(s) and elle(s)Il and
ils are masculine pronouns,
elle and
elles
are feminine pronouns; but the choice is not always as clear cut as it
might appear. The choice will depend on the grammatical gender and
number of the noun that the pronoun replaces.
Usually this is simple: nouns referring to
men and
males are masculine, so are referred to using
il and
ils, nouns referring to women and females are feminine, and are therefore referred to using the pronouns
elle and
elles.
However, it is vital to remember that it is the grammatical
gender of the noun, and not the natural gender of whatever it
designates, that determines the choice between
il/s and
elle/s. Sometimes this causes confusion.
When a plural pronoun refers to a mix of masculine and femine nouns (people), it will always be
ils, never
elles, even if most of the nouns (people) are feminine.
The most common example of a cause for confusion is the noun
personne, which is feminine –
une personne. Thus, in grammatically correct French, the pronoun that will take up the noun later in a text or statement should always be
elle/s, even if the people being referred to are all males.
As far as inanimate objects are concerned, in order to
know which pronoun to use, it is necessary to know the grammatical
gender of the noun.
Examples:
I respect this man, he's very wise.
- Je respecte cet homme; il est très sage.
Cette dame est très vielle; elle a presque cent ans.
This lady is very old, she's almost 100.
I like these apples, they've got plenty of taste.
J'aime ces pommes, elles ont beaucoup de gout .
My drill's broken down, it's not working.
Ma perceuse est en panne, elle ne marche plus.
These people are brave, they've got a lot of courage
Ces personnes sont braves, elles ont beaucoup de courage.
Look, there are Marie, Françoise, Marguerite and Arthur, they're coming towards us.
Regardez, il y a Marie, Françoise, Marguerite et Arthur, ils viennent vers nous.
